Usefulness Evaluation Of Cambridge Young Learners Of English

As China strengthens its economy and accelerates its steps to join into the international community, English, as a widely-accepted world language, becomes the number one foreign language in China. The zeal for learning English has prevailed not only among adults but also children, or more precisely, parents. Under that setting, it is worthwhile to have a research into the text books which are widely used by many English training programs.Firstly, it should be made clear that children are different from adults not only physically but also psychologically. Therefore, it is justifiable to treat young learners differently according to the perspective of developmental psychology. So any text books designed for children should allow for that difference. Then what features of the text books make them distinct from the books written for adult learners? In other words, is it age-scaffolding for young learners?Secondly, it has been found that children learn language by breaking language system into its smallest combinable parts (phonology, syntax, semantics, lexicon and pragmatics) and then developing rules for combining the parts. Any normal child will naturally become capable of communicating in that complex communication system when he is five. Isn't it a big amazing success, considering their disadvantages in intelligence and incomplete language input? It is said that age plays a vital role in making that success. The flexibility results from the immature brain growth, which enables children to have a high sensitivity to any language they contact. Thus it makes sense to have a look at the research based upon studies of language development concerning English-speaking children, which may shed some light on the research. It is assumed that the language development of those English-speaking counterparts can play as a yardstick to the language development of non-native children. For the text books written for Chinese young learners of English, to what extent does the series reflect children's first language acquisition and developmental process?...